


Masters of War

by bakedgoldfish



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, Episode Tag, Episode: s03e22 Posse Comitatus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-24
Updated: 2003-02-24
Packaged: 2019-05-15 05:35:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakedgoldfish/pseuds/bakedgoldfish
Summary: "What about when we're not soconfident?"





	Masters of War

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Masters Of War**

**by:** Baked Goldfish 

**Category:** Leo-fic, angst, post ep for Posse Comitatus  
**Rating:** TEEN/weak R for content  
**Spoilers:** Posse Comitatus (and one tiny one for War Crimes, but you won't notice it if you haven't seen the episode)  
**Summary:** "What about when we're not so confident?"  
**Disclaimer:** Bob Dylan stole the title of his song, "Masters of War," from the title of this fic.  Also, I own all things West Wing.  Aaron who? Please don't sue me.  The heat is obviously getting to me.  


I won't argue with myself.  Not in front of him.  He's already conflicted with himself, and he doesn't need me adding my voice to the fray.  He needed me to push him in the direction we have to go.  He needed to know he wasn't the only one making this decision. 

I'm sure of what we did tonight.  We made the right decision.  We knew Shareef had killed, and would kill again; yes, there will be many others to take his place.  Yes, we did nothing to quell the hatred of America and Americans that is present in parts of the world today.  But, though it's just a stopgap measure, it sure as hell helped ensure a little more domestic tranquility than what we had yesterday. 

We knew this was what we needed to do.  Fitz knew it.  Nancy knew it.  I knew it; I just had to convince him.  And I did.  We had proof, no matter how it was extracted by the Russians.  We knew Shareef had planned the attack on the Golden Gate Bridge, and thank God we'd stopped the attack before that plan could be implemented.  And tonight, a man who only a few hours earlier stood in the Oval Office and talked to the President, was dead by our hands.  Your tax dollars at work.  Do you approve?  It's for the common good, after all. 

We were right this time, and confident in our righteousness.  But what about when we're not so confident?  Ay, there's the rub.  This time, it was different. We knew he was guilty. What of a time when we aren't so sure? When we don't have our allies to torture their prisoners for information.  What happens when we send some poor sap kid, with words of patriotism and nationalism wrapped around him like a death shroud, what happens when we send him to kill someone who we're not so sure about? Are they eleven terrorists, or eleven kids on a dam?  We don't know, but there's always a chance, so go get 'em, give 'em hell, God bless the USA, and who gives a damn if you feel a little guilty since it's for the common good. 

"I'd argue he isn't a civilian."  There.  The line is drawn in the ground.  And when it suits us, we'll pick up the ground and move it somewhere else.  We'll set rules for the world, and break them when we feel it's best.  Because, after all, we're always right.  One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all those who we think deserve it.  We are the world's policeman.  We are the masters of war. 

I would argue Shareef isn't a civilian, but the next man we kill might be different.  The next man to lay cold and bleeding by our orders on a mosquito-ridden airfield in the middle of nowhere might just be different.  Might be an enemy of the state, or might have simply said the wrong thing in the wrong place.  And we would still kill him, because ... because ... 

Because.  It's for the common good. 

I won't argue with myself tonight, not out loud, and certainly not around him.  He has enough demons to live with.  He doesn't need mine on top of his.  But in my own mind, and in the solitude of shadows and the crowd, I have no choice but to let this conflict devour my every thought.  "I'd argue he isn't a civilian."  I said that tonight with all the clarity and confidence in the world.  

Nearly forty years ago, did someone in my position say exactly the same thing, I wonder? 

-end- 


End file.
